Second Stage: Forest of Death

After the discussion, most of the Sunagakure Ninja squads left Tosha's room.

Among these people, a genin who looked almost adult Genin at the back. Seeing everyone else leave, he stayed in the room.

"Sir, should we make our move in the Second Stage exam?" His name was Sunaki, and he looked unremarkable, like a veteran Genin.

Tosha was not surprised at all that Sunaki hadn't left; this was part of the plan their Sunagakure had prepared. Sunaki was actually a fairly strong Chunin, and the other two members of his team were also Chunin -level.

"You should have observed all the participants from Konoha; did you spot that group of people?"

"Hmm..." Sunaki hesitated slightly. He knew that Tosha was asking if Konoha had any Chunin- level ninjas hidden among the examinees, just like them, but he was a little unsure.

"There's a very high chance that there's a team of them." After thinking for a long time, Sunaki decided to trust her gut feeling.

In his mind, he saw the every move of a Konoha team, seemingly ordinary, yet displaying a calm and composed demeanor.

Experienced Chunin are always different from ordinary Genin; they have a bloodthirsty air about them and a cold demeanor.

"I see..." Tosha pondered. It seemed that Konoha had not relaxed its vigilance against the Sunagakure Ninja at all. If Sunaki and the others dared to cause trouble in the Second Stage exam, Konoha could take advantage of their home field to do even more outrageous things.

"Try to get some relevant information out before the Second Stage exam starts. If that's not feasible, then it's better to be safe."

"Okay." Sunaki understood what Tosha meant: they should demonstrate strength significantly greater than that of ordinary Genin, and never reveal it unless absolutely necessary.

"What about the youngest Genin in Konoha?"

Tosha thought about it but couldn't come up with a solution. After all, Byakugan was in that squad, and if they were to take action, the news would definitely get out of control.

Otherwise, they could kill the Byakugan as well, but if they did that, Konoha would definitely investigate thoroughly, which would go against the purpose of Sunagakure's participation in the exam.

"If you encounter them, test them out. You can unleash near -Chunin strength. If unexpected situations arise, then you'll have to make your own decision on the spot."

While the ninjas from other villages were discussing how to prepare for the Second Stage exam, Shuichi's squad went to the central area of Konoha and had a big feast.

"There are still 3 hours until the meeting time. I estimate it will start around 4 o'clock, and it will be dark in 2 hours then," Sarutobi Kohei said after they had eaten and drunk their fill.

"This must have been intentionally designed to test our survival skills in environments with poor visibility. I just don't know what the rules will be."

Shuichi agreed, "Yes, and after dark, we need to be even more careful of attacks from the shadows. Everyone has to stay on high alert, which will increase the ninjas' energy consumption."

"This is also a test of the ninjas' ability to adapt. The team with the stronger adaptability will gain an invisible advantage when they face off on the second day."

In just a few words, everyone had figured out why the Second Stage exam was scheduled to start at that time in the afternoon. It was very likely that the first encounter would take place at night, which would greatly increase the danger for all teams.

Besides the enemies who might launch a sneak attack, the animals that roam the Forest of Death at night are even more dangerous.

"But this actually puts us in a more advantageous position. The Forest of Death, with a radius of 10 kilometers, isn't very large. With Akiha's Byakugan around, we're in control no matter what." As the captain, Shuichi directly told the two of them his battle plan.

"We don't need to wait until dawn, because nighttime is when we have the greatest advantage. We can spot traps and enemy hiding places in advance." Since we have the advantage of the Byakugan, we should make the most of it. It would be truly foolish to wait until dawn just to be on the safe side.

"For the first hour after the exam begins, let's slow down. If we can find a lone enemy team, that would make things much easier."

"If not, wait until it gets a little dark, then we'll speed up the search, because most teams will definitely slow down their progress."

Shuichi made the final decision, saying, "Tonight, we'll sleep in the Tower in the center of the Forest of Death."

"No problem, Captain." Sarutobi Kohei and Hyuga Akiha both agreed with his decision. The first Tenten after dark would be their home turf. On the contrary, the longer it went on, the more their competitors would adapt to the environment of the Forest of Death.

Time flew by and it was already 3 p. m. At this point, all the examinees had gathered at Entrance 1 of the Forest of Death, which was the main gate.

Because some teams suffered from insufficient information in the first exam, they arrived here more than half an hour early, hoping to avoid repeating the same problem.

However, this time they miscalculated; when they arrived, they found that their preparations had been in vain.

The entire Forest of Death was surrounded by barbed wire fences over ten meters high, and the meeting point consisted of only a table with a simple thatched shed on top.

The only thing visible was the thick trees behind the barbed wire fence; judging by the width of these trees, even a dozen adults forming a circle probably couldn't wrap their arms around them.

The thick roots of these large trees were often exposed, making the ground extremely uneven and greatly limiting the ninjas' movement speed.

"The height is so high, and the branches have grown into an intertwined structure, making our visibility very poor even during the day." Many of the genin who arrived Genin gasped in shock; the environment for this Second Stage exam was truly appalling.

"And it will be dark in two or three hours..." a member of Genin squad reminded his captain.

"..."

Every Genin discovered that the Forest of Death was both incredibly suitable and incredibly dangerous for ninja combat. The poor visibility in all directions made it highly vulnerable to ambushes, posing a significant challenge to everyone's survival skills.

When Shuichi and his two companions arrived at the entrance to the Forest of Death, there were still ten minutes until the agreed-upon meeting time for the Second Stage exam. By this time, almost all the Genin had already gathered there.

"1, 2,... 23 teams, plus us, a total of 24 teams." With a few minutes left until 3 p. m., seeing that no more teams were arriving, Shuichi began to observe the number of participating teams.

"Among them, there are 13 teams from Konoha, 6 from Sunagakure, 2 from Takigakure, 2 from Amegakure, and 1 from Kusagakure." The Genin in the arena are all doing the same thing.